


Definition

by FluffFailure



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, No character death or going psycho, Tainted AU but not really and with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8473672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffFailure/pseuds/FluffFailure
Summary: More than 1000 years of waiting had became too much for Mikleo. He was devoured by malevolence, lost his own name, and got too far out Sorey's reach. But Sorey wasn't the kind of person to give up easily - getting Mikleo back was something he needed to do at any cost





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the sub skit 'The Dragonslayers' Duty' when Zavied talked to Sorey about shooting Eizen with Siegfried might return him to normal but they couldn't try that because they weren't sure whether it worked or not and Heldalf was still waiting for them.

Another empty day without Sorey, again.

Mikleo wandered alone in a strange space covered with thick layers of fog, settled somewhere between dream and reality. Wishing with his whole being for Sorey to be by his side, to enveloped him in the warmth of his, Mikleo held his arms even more tightly around his body – it was cold and painful, yet nothing compared to the feeling clawing his heart. 

“Sorey, come back... please...”

But of course, there was only silence that answered his call; Sorey still had not returned, even though 710 years had passed and time was still ticking away. 'Without Sorey, Mikleo just could not be ‘Mikleo’ anymore' - and with every passing second, he became more and more unsure of who he really was, while desperately asking himself how much longer he would have to wait before being released from this kind of suffering.

No matter how many friends he had or how caring they were, there would be no one that could fill the Sorey-shaped hole inside his heart.

A hazy voice called him from afar.

“######, come here. I’m waiting for you...”

“Sorey...” – He called ‘Sorey’s’ name and fell into the opening arms in front of him. Somewhere in the corner of his mind there was another voice screaming, telling him that this was nothing but a product of malevolence, but he simply did not care anymore. His place was inside Sorey’s embrace only, malevolence or not.

And, just like that, malevolence sank him. No one saw a white, amethyst-eyed dragon open its wings and soar through the sky the moment the seraph vanished. 

* * *

 

Light flooded his vision when he woke up, feeling light-headed. The brunette could neither know where he was nor recall his own name; however, there was still one thing that held him back against the sense of loss – one word that brought with it the weight of his world, which he knew was someone else’s name: ‘Mikleo’.

“So the time has come.”

A person (a child, how strange) sat in front of him, wearing the casual clothing of seraphim, yet could not hide the ‘ancient’ aura that he emitted. The brunette hesitated for a while as he realized the person was actually a projection, but eventually asked.

“Who are you? Can you tell me where we are?”

“I’m Maotelus, a seraph just like you. And this place is called Camlann – there used to be a shrine here, but after your intense fight with the Lord of Calamity, all of it had collapsed.” – The person sighed in grief before asking – “Do you still remember your name?” 

The brunette smiled sadly – “Unfortunately, no. I wonder if you can also help me with that.”

“Figured as much...” – Maotelus whispered to himself, then patted the ground next to him – “Come and sit, child – it will be a long story.”

According to Maotelus’s explanation, the brunette’s name was Sorey. He used to be the only Shepherd in the Ages of Chaos, which had ended a thousand years ago, and in his hand no less. Maotelus had been bound to the Lord of Calamity, which allowed hellions to quickly increase in number, causing misfortune everywhere on the continent of Glenwood. After a long journey, facing many hardships and losses, Sorey and his friends had found a solution to restore Glenwood’s blessing, but with the sacrifice of Sorey’s own ‘flow of time’ – he had to become a vessel for Maotelus to dwell in, until malevolence lessened enough for the natural purification to appear again. During his sleep, many of his human friends had lived, created their family, even passed away - none of which Sorey knew about, and had the chance to grief until now. Finally he had woken up, no longer a human but a seraph instead, and the transformation was what had taken most of his memories away, except for the most important ones.

Then, to Sorey, the one named Mikleo must have been his most important person. He could feel this from not Maotelus’s story alone, but also with all of his heart – the way warmth embraced it every time Sorey thought of that name. So he asked the old seraph, feeling his blood race with anticipation.

“How about a person called ‘Mikleo’, do you know anything about him or... or where he is right now?”

Suddenly the seraph’s eyes saddened as he only answered vaguely – “For that, I don’t have the right to tell you, and don’t know much either. All I can say is, if you follow the path southwest from here, you will find Mt. Mabinogio Ruin, the other side of which leads to the seraphim village Izuchi. I believe you can find the answer you need there, Sorey.”

“I understand. Thank you, Maotelus, for all these instructions.” – Sorey waved his hand while watching Maotelus disappear into a pillar of light coming from the sky above.

 

Sorey walked alone on the empty road leading to his hometown village, mind never getting off Mikleo. The brunette was so lost in thought that he didn’t even stop once to enjoy the sight of the ancient ruin he used to be interested in so much, and even reached Izuchi before he realised.

The next thing Sorey knew was someone calling his name in shock, then many seraphs surrounded him, congratulated him for bringing peace to this world. They were also eager to help Sorey with finding out that his element was wind, and practising the most useful skill he had – reading the wind.

Even though Sorey hadn’t remembered that person’s face, he could feel Mikleo wasn’t one of these seraphs. So the next things he asked after the sound of cheer had died down a bit was about Mikleo, which the villagers answered very precisely. However, none of them knew where he was – they only said that Mikleo hadn’t returned for about 3 hundreds years.   

The lack of Mikleo’s presence was so uncomfortable that the welcoming ritual held by Izuchi’s residents wasn’t as joyful as it supposed to be for Sorey. As the strange feeling continued into the night, Sorey moved to sit by the lake, eyes gazing at the sky above. He wondered whether it was because he was near Mikleo’s element that it happened: the voice of someone suddenly echoed from the back of his mind, while a fleeting image of a certain water seraph crossed his vision.

_“Huh? Didn’t you have something you wanted to say?” – Sorey asked, sensing a strange atmosphere around the seraph, but Mikleo quickly dodged the question._

_“Did I? I forgot.”_

_“Well, that’s convenient.”_

_“You are not much for conversation anyway.”_

_“That’s harsh!”_

_There was a moment of silence between them, until a promise was voiced from the depth of Mikleo’s heart – “I will tell you if I remember.”_

_No matter what it was that kept Mikleo from saying what he wanted to say, this was still Mikleo’s decision. So Sorey decided not to press the matter further, instead asked in an understanding tone – “For real?”_

_“For real.” – The seraph nodded firmly before the blue light of his soul covered Sorey’s figure._

 

 _So that was what Mikleo looked like_ , Sorey sighed contentedly as he closed his eyes, carving the other’s appearance into his memory. Remembering anything about Mikleo didn’t soothe him one bit – now the desire to meet the water seraph again was burning even more that the reflection of Sorey in the water looked so lonely without Mikleo’s by his side.

“The moon isn’t shining today. What a shame.” – Sorey whispered to himself as he walked back to his house, closing the door behind his back.

 

“Sorey-san!!! Finally, finally... we miss you sooooo much!!!” – A female seraph with long white hair and emerald eyes held his hands tightly and squeezed it with all her might. Standing beside her were 2 humans and 3 other seraphs – none of whom Sorey remembered. The group seemed to guess what happened, so they introduced themselves to him again, starting with the lady who was holding his hand.

“I’m Lailah, your once-Prime-Lord, and a fire seraph. Nice to see you are still safe and sound.”

“Edna, your Sub Lord, an earth seraph. Thanks for everything, even though you don’t remember.”

“Zavied, your Sub Lord, a wind seraph. What an honour to see you have the same element as mine – maybe because you used to admire me a lot?”

“No one with a normal mind-set would want to grow up into a pervert like you, Zavied.” – Edna immediately retorted – “In fact, why don’t you just die and make the world a better place?”

Ignoring the comedy routine of those two, the last seraph spoke – “I’m Uno, a water seraph. Unlike the others, I am a seraph you had purified, and once Ladylake’s Lord of the Land. But right now Ladylake’s current Lord of the Land is Oysh, a seraph with the appearance of a dog that you also purified long ago, while I’m their Sub Lord.” – He motioned toward the two human of the group.

“I’m currently the Shepherd, and this is my younger sister, who is also my Squire. We respect you so much, Shepherd Sorey.”

“Just ‘Sorey’ is enough, because now _you_ are the Shepherd, not me.” – The brunette shook their hand politely before asking what he had been noticing for a while – “Lailah, Zavied, Edna... Do you happen to know where Mikleo is right now?”

A heavy silence fell onto the group. The warmth of their reunion quickly disappeared as if the air had been frozen. The called three seraphs exchanged glances, nodded, and finally Lailah asked.

“How much do you remember about him, Sorey-san?”

“I can recall his name, voice, and face, a bit of his personality and the fact that... to me, he is the most important one in the world.” – Sorey looked at them apologetically – “Actually, these are everything I can remember up until now about the past. Sorry everyone.”

“That isn’t the thing you should apology for, idiot.” – Edna hid herself behind her parasol – “Rather, it should be how you are making things difficult for us because of how love-struck you still are.”

“I don’t... understand...”

“Please, Sorey-san, stay calm after listening to this.” – Lailah took a deep breath and looked Sorey in the eyes – “Mikleo-san had turned into a dragon.”

 

Sorey nearly fainted after hearing those words.

The weight of a-thousand-year sleep seemed to crash on him at once. No, the real cost of this peaceful world wasn’t Sorey’s time, but Mikleo himself – Sorey’s most important person. A thousand years he was away was a thousand years Mikleo had to suffer from whatever turmoil that turned him into such a sorrowful creature, which Sorey knew nothing about.

If only he had been there, Sorey thought, maybe he could have helped Mikleo somewhat. But he hadn’t. Sorey chose to be abandoned in time to create a world he and Mikleo dreamed of; but if in the end Mikleo couldn’t live in that world, was there any meaning to his sacrifice at all?

Despite not knowing what to do, there was only one thing Sorey was certain about. Although Mikleo had turned into a dragon, that dragon was still Mikleo. Sorey had to try his best to force the words out of his numb throat, breaking the freezing silence – “Even so, I want to see him again.”

Zavied looked really sad when he nodded in an understanding way and answered Sorey’s left-hanging question – “We couldn’t figure out where he was, for 3 hundreds years, even when I read the wind with my power. So we suspected it was due to his power – the Spectral cloak. However,” – the seraph slowed down, emphasising every word so that Sorey would not be drowned by disappointment just yet – “The _exact_ moment I sensed you came back, his invisibility vanished. As if he had reacted to _you._ ”

The realisation shook Sorey to the core. He whispered with a shaking voice, emotions threatening to spill out – “Mikleo... is still waiting for me...”

“That’s also what we thought.” – It was Edna that spoke this time – “So we decided to hear your opinion first. We have to. It’s only you who had the right to choose.”

“Thank you, Edna, for being so thoughtful for us.” – Sorey answered gratefully, which cause Edna to turn around, looking anywhere but his face.

“We just don’t want another dragon to appear, that’s all. Because that’s what a fool like you would do if we touch his precious little Meebo.”

“And I think even Rose-san would agree with us, had she been still alive.” – Lailah said with a melancholic smile on her lips – “So, whatever your answer is, we will support you.”

Sorey already had an answer in his mind – fortunately the knowledge he gained from Maotelus’s story had proved to be useful this time – and found himself didn’t care even if he was deemed crazy by the rest - “I want to visit Rose grave. With everybody here, and Mikleo.”

 

“Suddenly being left without purification power sure brings back memory.” – Zavied said as he walked beside the two human – “But walking on your own again next to a beautiful Squire surely worth the trouble.” - The seraph's carefree chatter surely helped a lot with lifting the heavy atmosphere before their no doubt intense battle.

 _So dwelling inside a human vessel feels like this,_ Sorey thought. The Shepherd had terminated the Sub Lord pact with Zavied, so that Sorey could fight in that place. No matter how hard he tried, Sorey’s heart still beat wildly with pressure as if this would be the first battle he ever had.

Sorey could tell the wind was uneasy with every step they took. Following a river through the wood, they set foot in a closed valley after facing many difficult obstacles blocking the way, which were impossible for a normal human to pass. Sorey wondered if they were created by Mikleo himself when the last piece of his consciousness still remained, so as not to accidently murdered anyone who got lost in this place.

The sound of flowing water could be heard everywhere, and Sorey knew he mustn’t be careless. Once they had passed the borderline, this was Mikleo’s field.

Rain started pouring. Flash of thunder lightened the sky, allowing the group to see a huge shadow flying toward them.

On the shore of the river landed a white, amethyst-eyed dragon. Even though that appearance was supposed to bring nothing but fear, Sorey could not help noticing how sad and lonely it actually was.

With a powerful roar, the dragon charged forward the group. Lailah used the heat to vaporize the water, blocking the dragon’s vision while attacking him by directing the thunder that the rain created, while Uno used the sources of water around them to his advantage. Edna and Sorey continued to wait inside their vessel – Sorey’s anxiety was transported directly to her as she encouraged him, an act that she would never show most of the time.

“It’ll be alright, Sorey. This time, we will definitely save him.”

It must be really unfair for her, Sorey thought – they couldn’t use the planned method to try to save her brother in the past, because Heldalf simply would not wait for them. Yet Edna decided to support him, since she was always that kind of person.

With a ferocious sweep of the dragon’s tail, both Lailah and Uno were knocked like pieces of chess, landing on their back. The dragon lifted his front left leg, ready to stomp down.

“No, Mikleo!” – Sorey shouted as he and Edna was switched out, and to everyone’s surprise, the dragon stopped in his track. His gaze was fixed on Sorey, and that moment he looked the least threatening as a dragon could ever be.

“Earth Revolution!!!” – The voice of the Squire, who had armatized with Edna, echoed in the valley. The earth shook with a powerful force. The dragon upper half fell to the ground, his body was immobilized.

“Right now, Sorey-san!” – Lailah’s voice could be heard from their shared vessel. Wind raged around them as Sorey armatized, with his role no longer a Shepherd, but a Sub Lord like Mikleo used to be.

The current Shepherd pulled out a familiar gun which held the name of Siegfried, aiming it at the dragon’s heart.

 

_“Are you sure, Sorey?” – Zavied asked as he rolled the gun on his fingers – “If we shoot him with Siegfried, he may be able to return to normal. But we might need more than just one bullet, and who knows if this will even work at all?”_

_“I will take any risk to save Mikleo, no matter how slim our chance is. And if it really doesn’t work,” – Sorey bit his lips –“our fate will be in your hands. After he is shot with me as the bullet, even if I failed, he would definitely be weakened enough for you to take him down... and release both of us.”_

_“Then, I will gladly receive my position back, whether you succeed or not.” – Zavied nodded, handling the gun to the current Shepherd._

With the dry sound of gunshot, Sorey sank himself into Mikleo’s soul.

***

It was a world of silence only, but he didn’t feel empty at all – not when ‘Sorey’ was hugging him tightly like this. Just this was enough; he would never need any other thing anymore. But why was it that he felt so uneasy, as if deep down inside he knew something was definitely wrong?

The seraph lifted his head lightly off ‘Sorey’s’ chest as he sensed a presence approaching them. A blurry voice could be heard from afar – he wondered why his heart was starting to beat faster at the sound of it, since there was ever only Sorey’s voice that had this effect on him.

That voice seemed to be calling someone, over and over again.

Could it be... he was that ‘someone’?

***

So this was Mikleo’s inner world.

There was only white wherever Sorey’s eyes reached – not the ‘pure’ kind of white, but more like the ‘empty’ one. Sorey only walked and walked, his patience was slowly chipping away bit by bit. Yet he kept heading forward, and soon enough, Sorey was looking at a scene that made him instinctively hold his breath.

Mikleo was there alone, in this world of white. His wrists and ankles were all chained, the black chain connected to a huge, dark shadow that must have been the embodiment of malevolence. Wrapped tightly by Mikleo’s embrace was a distorted form of a person – an illusion, which Mikleo was repeatedly calling it... ‘Sorey’.

“Mikleo...” – Sorey didn’t believe in his own eyes anymore. He called the seraph’s name painfully over and over again with every step he took, and after a moment that seemed to last forever...

Mikleo lifted his face up lightly from the shadow he was holding onto, and their gaze met. Those eyes that Sorey cherished so much were now dulled and devoid of life – their colour was the same, but the sparkling light in them was nowhere to be found. The brunette suddenly felt the urge to rip his aching heart out of his chest, if the sight of Mikleo’s eyes hadn’t torn it apart already.

“Why...?” – Sorey asked, without knowing whom that question was directed to: Mikleo, himself, or their cruel fate.

Words formed on Mikleo’s lips monotonously, telling his story, while those vacant eyes stared into nothingness.

* * *

 

Mikleo loved the world Sorey’s effort create. In 700 years he had been travelling with different Shepherds in that world, guiding them, fighting alongside them, but no matter how many hellions were purified, human kept breeding malevolence, tainting the world.

Day by day fear had been growing stronger inside Mikleo, that because malevolence was a side of human’s ‘personality’ which existed together with ‘love’, removing them would be impossible. At that rate, Sorey would never be able to wake up, because malevolence would never lessen enough for Maotelus natural purification to begin.

Negative emotions bred malevolence, that much he knew. But no matter how much Lailah, Edna and Zavied comforted him, it would never be enough, for no one in this world would ever be able to replace Sorey.

Soon enough, Mikleo was terrified to find out that he himself was affecting the party with malevolence, which was even worse than the things he hated about hellionized human. So Mikleo decided to leave in order not to hold them back, ignoring Lailah’s shocked expression. He couldn’t stay any longer – every second he was in the party would be one more second of time that abandoned Sorey, who was still sleeping a dreamless sleep.

After leaving the others, Mikleo had been fighting hopelessly against himself. He repeated again and again in his head, that by waiting _just a little more_ , he would be able to welcome Sorey in his arms when the brunette returned. But another 10 years passed without any chance of Sorey waking up had pulled Mikleo to the depth of despair, as he had run out of will to fight back. Even though the seraph understood that the late Shepherd Micheal and the Lord of Calamity Heldalf were both unfortunate people, a burning hate toward them for separating his most precious Sorey from him suddenly darkened his heart, while loneliness also refused to leave him alone. Just like that, Mikleo held onto the memories of Sorey and accepted malevolence, turning into a dragon.

* * *

 

“Why was it always Sorey alone who had to bear this burden? Because he appeared in the Sanctuary at the wrong moment, and was too kind to abandon anyone? Because he continued to involve in it too much to just up and quit? This is utterly unfair.” – Even though Mikleo’s voice was monotonous while talking about himself, it was now trembling with a mixture of a thousand emotions, each for a year he had been waiting – “I don’t understand. How did Sorey use to deal with all of his problems? How was he so strong that he never once collapsed?”

Drops of water formed from Mikleo’s lifeless eyes, drawing two lines on his face before falling down at the same time with Sorey’s. Mikleo’s last question echoed in the suffocating atmosphere around the brunette.

“Why, unlike him, am I so helpless?”

 

_Because I had you by my side. You – a cure stronger than any poison in this world._

Sorey knelt down next to Mikleo trembling figure, both of his hands cupped Mikleo’s face as he made the water seraph look him in the eyes, or rather, forced himself to look into Mikleo’s dull ones despite the pain threatening to devour him when he did.

Sorey was not going to say anything like ‘I understand your pain’ to the other, because Mikleo’s agony was something so terrifying that a simple imagination of Sorey could never wholly describe. Everything Mikleo held dear had been robbed away from him in less than half a day: his beloved mother, whom Mikleo didn’t even tell that he was her son; their dear saviour and guardian who had raised them up; and finally Sorey himself who had promised to return, but showed no sign of awakening. The brunette was not such a heartless person to make up that kind of irresponsible lie.

But understanding _Mikleo_ was something Sorey could do. What Mikleo needed, he would be the one to provide. Mikleo’s question, he would be the one to answer.

“I wasn’t that strong, and no one could be. Still, I made it this far because I had you by my side. Even though I have yet to remember everything, the lack of your presence is like the lack of air to me – it is insufferable.” – His right hand moved up to caress the familiar white locks like he used to do back then, in any rare occasion that Mikleo fell asleep before he did – “So now I am here to take you back, no matter how painful it will be seeing you in this state.” – The last of his line was a desperate plea – “ _Please, Mikleo, come back to me._ ”

Mikleo’s body trembled furiously. His eyelids closed, and when they opened again...

“So...rey...?”

... the distorted shadow of Sorey turned to dust. The beautiful sparkles had returned to those amethyst eyes.

***

“Mikleo, welcome back.”

The water seraph felt Sorey’s callous thumbs slid across his cheekbones, wiping away the tears forming in his eyes as he asked – it sounded like a silly question, but was something he needed to know at any cost.

“Mikleo...? Is that... my name?

The brunette nodded firmly, a tender smile appeared on his lips – “You are still sleepy, aren’t you?”

Mikleo didn’t care about the tease any more. He leapt his whole body to crash into Sorey’s broad chest, crying like he hadn’t cried his eyes out for a thousand years already.

“Sorey, Sorey, Sorey,... Waaahh!!... You’re back... You still remember me...”

“I promised you, didn’t I?” – Sorey answered with a radiating grin on his face – “I will never break a promise to you.”

As the wave of relief finally left his body, Mikleo finally noticed how he looked right now, with chains around his ankles and wrists. Realizing what had happened, Mikleo apologised again and again while sobbing endlessly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Sorey... For not being there when you return... For depending too much on you... I’m so sorry...”

“Don’t be, Mikleo.” – A warm hand travelled from Mikleo’s head along his spine to his back. There it stopped, patting him gently in a comforting manner – “In fact, I even want you to depend on me more, and make me take care of you to make up for the time we lost. Does that sound good to you?”

“But I don’t want to be the only one taken care of...” – Mikleo protested weakly, making the brunette rephrase his sentence.

“Fine, fine... Then we will take care of each other.”

To which Mikleo only nodded in agreement. They stayed like that for a while; Mikleo took the chance to indulge himself in the other’s presence. After a long silence, Sorey continued.

“Thank you, Mikleo. For waiting for me no matter which form you took.” – The water seraph felt Sorey’s nose pressed against his hair; Sorey’s voice was quiet, but he could still hear it clearly – “Can I ask you to trust me once more?”

“You don’t have to ask, Sorey. The answer is always ‘yes’.”

“Then, can you close your eyes? Yes, like that. Now, focus on me only – make sure you hear everything I am about to say.”

Mikleo inhaled deeply, doing what he was told without question. At the same time, he felt Sorey’s hold around him tightened, pulling him closer to the other’s chest.

“Here we go.” – Sorey whispered in Mikleo’s ears, his voice was so low and warm – “Your name is Mikleo. You are my precious Mikleo.”

An uncontrollable shiver ran up Mikleo’s body as the loss of his vision heightened his hearing. Sorey’s voice seemed to turn a switch inside him, making Mikleo feel so small, yet so safe in the brunette’s arms like this.

“I will protect you, and won’t leave you ever again.”

Something soft and warm was pressed against his forehead. With the last sentence, light somehow flooded into Mikleo’s closed eyelids.

“From now on, we will be together, forever.”

***

Mikleo felt so fragile, so vulnerable inside his arms that Sorey instinctively tightened his hold before whispering slowly in the other’s ears, making sure he didn’t miss a single word.

“Your name is Mikleo. You are my precious Mikleo. I will protect you, and won’t leave you ever again. From now on, we will be together, forever.”

Sorey felt Mikleo’s body shiver in his embrace, urging him to place a reassuring kiss on the other's forehead. The moment he finished, Mikleo started glowing in a gentle light that reminded Sorey of the moon they used to gaze up together. Both the chains and the huge shadow of malevolence in front of them blurred away as if they couldn’t stand Mikleo’s pure light. With a determined wave of Sorey’s hand, they disappeared before the two were pulled outside of that empty white world.

 

It was the blue light of the purification flame that wrapped Sorey’s vision this time. He appeared in the middle of the air, carrying Mikleo ~~bridal style~~ in front of his chest. The wind beneath them swirled around following Sorey’s command, and he landed safely on his two feet.

Mikleo had been injured badly. His head was now bleeding, blood stained his silky white locks and stuck them together. The rest of his body was also covered in scratch and bruises. Even though Mikleo had already fainted, his face was still so painful; its colour had turned deadly pale due to blood loss. Sorey activated his healing arte instinctively, not even realizing he was never taught to do that.

The other seraphs also rushed to their side and started healing Mikleo. The wounds quickly closed and the bleeding was stopped. Among 5 pairs of glowing hands, Sorey noticed Mikleo unconscious body seemed to lean toward his the most. The moon shone beautifully on the sky, allowing him to see Mikleo recover bit by bit, starting from the pain disappearing from his face. Still, the water seraph didn’t wake up.

“He should be safe for now, even though we couldn’t take back his lost blood.” – Lailah sighed in relief – “A peaceful sleep then his health will recover.”

“Thank you, everyone. I’m truly grateful for your effort.” – Sorey thanked them again, but Zavied waved his hand relaxingly.

“Nothing that big a deal, Sorey. And really, I’m surprised you managed to succeed with only a single bullet. Must be the talent of our wind seraph, is it not?

“I don’t see any talent from you except snooping around the girl’s sauna and being utterly defeated by Lailah’s fire.” – Edna tried to wear her familiar smirk, but not very effective because of her own worry for Mikleo.

“My precious little Meebo will be grateful for you too, Edna.”

Her smirk returned to normal – “He will hit you once he knew about this.”

***

Mikleo opened his heavy eyelids; the light of the sun blinded him for a moment. He wondered how long it was since the last time he woke up from such a long, deep sleep that wasn’t interrupted by dreams about Sorey, where he would cry a lot until waking up with no one by his side.

Mikleo must have had a dream again. This time it was about him turning into a dragon while waiting for Sorey to return, but in the end Sorey had risked his life to revert him back to normal successfully. Sorey hadn’t returned after 710 years, so none of this could have happened, right?

Come to think of it, this dream seemed so real to a strange extent. Mikleo wondered why that was as he tried to move out of the bed to wash his sleepiness away, only to realise he couldn’t move due to something locking him in place.

Rubbing his eyes to see better, Mikleo recognized that ‘something’.

Or ‘someone’ to be precise. That person was Sorey.

Realization hit Mikleo so hard that it woke him up completely. The water seraph blushed madly, recalling how pathetic he was when they were together in that white world and pressed his heated face against Sorey’s chest. Sorey was warm to the touch – Mikleo really liked it when Sorey’s hands were touching his skin, so he used to secretly lean on Sorey more when the brunette held him in the past, thinking he was injured in their battles – not that he would ever admit it aloud anyway. The distant memories made Mikleo’s tears overflowed again out of happiness, which in turn woke Sorey up.

“Good morning, Mikleo.” – Sorey greeted him while the water seraph stubbornly hid his face in the other’s chest. Yet Mikleo’s act was proved pointless as Sorey continued – “Your ears are so red.”

“I know.”

“It is cute though.”

“Enough!” - Mikleo wished nothing more than being able to hide inside Sorey the way Edna did when she found out the Minotaur was actually their trial.

Sorey stretched his shoulder and sat up. The brunette pulled Mikleo along with him so that he was sitting with his back against the wall, while the water seraph remained pressed against his chest. His right hand was buried in the white hair behind Mikleo’s head, while the left one settled on Mikleo’s back. It was so warm having Sorey all over him like this, Mikleo thought as his sobs died down and eventually disappeared.

“Thank you for saving me, Sorey. If only I can also do anything for you...”

“If you insist on repaying the favour, make me some ice cream today, okay? I miss them so much – it has been a thousand years since the last time I ate your ice cream.”

The imagination of Sorey’s happy expression over a single ice cream really brightened Mikleo’s mood. Casting his embarrassment aside, Mikleo lifted his face up and met Sorey’s emerald eyes. There was something else he needed to say – it was a promise he made to the brunette a thousand years ago.

“Can I tell you something?” – Both of them started at the same time, and Sorey chuckled.

“After you, Mikleo.” – He suggested, but Mikleo refused.

“No, you go first. I want to listen to you.”

“Don’t regret it later, okay?” – Sorey’s mouth curved into a mischievous grin – “I love you _too,_ Mikleo.”

Mikleo felt a surge of happiness sweep through his body – he was sure to find his own eyes sparkle if he looked into the mirror right now. Just this one sentence from Sorey suddenly made a thousand years of waiting and crying worth the effort. Mikleo was about to smile sweetly at his loved one when he realized.

Sorey said he loved Mikleo _too._

The white-haired one remembered that Sorey was innocent, but wasn’t dense. Yet even if he knew, why did Sorey have to mess up Mikleo’s confession like that? Happy as Mikleo was right now, there was no way he would accept being completely defeated. That was why he would do anything in his power to wash that annoying grin (it was captivating though – wait, what was he thinking?) off the other’s face.

“Just so you know, I didn’t forget.” – Mikleo mumbled as his hand pulled Sorey’s head down at the same time he leapt up, connecting their lips in an affectionate kiss.

 _Do you see that, Sorey? Don’t be so full of yourself - like this, now we are even –_ Mikleo made sure to transmit the thought to Sorey’s mind in that kiss, until the need for air became unbearable and their lips had to part.

***

Sorey would never expect Mikleo to act this bold – he was bewildered but gladly returned the kiss.

 _“Do you see that, Sorey? Don’t be so full of yourself - like this, now we are even.” -_ Sorey could feel Mikleo's thought made its way inside his mind, and he smiled softly into their kiss. Mikleo had always been like that: a little competitive about things they discovered together (Sorey never thought this would also apply to 'love'), while a little dishonest when it came to his own feeling; with those two traits now mixed, Sorey found the result undeniably endearing. As he looked at Mikleo’s face again, his water seraph had managed to find a new shade of red, and it took a while for those dreamy eyes to focus again before Mikleo stuttered something about having to make them breakfast and fled the room with the speed of light.

Being left alone, Sorey sank into his thought. Mikleo hadn’t known this yet, but when he was in dragon form, he had subconsciously dismissed the Spectral cloak the moment Sorey woke up – could it be that deep down inside he had never really lost the hope of seeing his loved one again? Then Sorey’s thought ventured to why he had woken up as a wind seraph, and came up with an answer just as quickly: maybe it was simply so he and Mikleo could cover each other’s weakness, Mikleo's being 'earth' and his being 'fire'.

Smiling to himself, Sorey followed Mikleo outside. He heard Edna and Zavied’s smug voices coming from the front door, followed by Lailah's enthusiastic remark in between Mikleo's incoherent attempt at a protest.

“I admit, your wind-reading power can come in handy sometimes, Zavied. It allows you to learn from tsundere Mikleo – or in short, Tsunleo – how to flirt properly and stopped failing next time.”

“Why should I? His technique only works on Sorey anyway. And you know I'm apparently _not_ into a certain Mikleo-obsessed ruin nerd.”

“Oh my!”

“I- I didn't... That's... Why are you... Don't you all have anything better to do???”

Seemed like his poor Mikleo was going to have a bad day again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tsunleo remained tsun


End file.
